ARTICLE 19 says the Draft Kenya Data Protection Bill 2009 currently undergoing internal review and stakeholder consultation is critically limited and calls on the Constitution Implementation Commission to revise it to be in line with acceptable international standards on the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information. Over 70 countries have now adopted data protection laws covering the collection and use of personal information. Over 50 of those countries also have freedom of information laws.

European Union carbon prices could shed some 70 per cent from current levels, as the bloc struggles with a mounting debt crisis and a glut of supply in the carbon market is unlikely to disappear until 2025, analysts at UBS said. The investment bank also said the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS), the 27-nation bloc's main policy tool to fight global warming, 'isn't working' because carbon prices are 'already too low to have any significant environmental impact'.

It will take two centuries for sub-Saharan Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, according to NGO WaterAid, which calls on national leaders to commit 3.5 per cent of their annual budget to the sector. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are being sidelined as governments concentrate on health and education, says the WaterAid report. Meanwhile, people’s lack of access to clean water and basic sanitation services is holding back social and economic development in the region, costing around 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) every year.

Doctors in public hospitals are demanding a 400 percent pay increment. This is one of the resolutions by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), which has threatened to call a strike over poor terms of service. The union also wants its members compensated for working at odd hours.

The aim of this policy brief is to argue that the celebration of only the ‘positive’ aspects of Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela’s persona is an injustice to his contribution to South Africa history. What should rather be celebrated is Madiba in his totality, including his weaknesses and faults. It is submitted that ‘Our Madiba’ should be put in proper historical context, so that the world can best appreciate and celebrate Mandela in his totality for his contributions to world peace in the past, present and future.

The number of refugees and migrants arriving in Yemen by boat was 12,545 last month - the highest monthly total since UNHCR began compiling data about the mixed migration route between the Horn of Africa and Yemen in January 2006. As well as exceeding the previous record of 12,079 arrivals in September, the October total brings to 84,656 the number of people who arrived in Yemen by sea between the start of January and the start of November - more than the earlier annual record in 2009 of 77,000 people.

The world-turned-upside-down of the European debt crisis reached a new extreme last week when Europe came pleading for lucre where it once only seized it: Africa. The hands-out visit of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho of Portugal to its former colony Angola was a milestone of sorts. 'Angolan capital is very welcome,' Mr. Passos Coelho said in Luanda, the capital city. That may be an understatement: the former colony’s cash could be essential as Portugal is forced to sell off state-owned companies after a bailout this year, reports the New York Times.

World powers have urged Libya to work with the International Criminal Court and ensure a fair trial for Seif al-Islam, son of slain leader Muamar Gaddafi who was arrested after months on the run. Seif, wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in crushing anti-regime protests, was captured in Libya's far-flung Saharan south early on Saturday in a trap set by fighters of the Zintan brigade.

The UN refugee agency has expressed concern about the security of thousands of refugees in South Sudan border areas as fighting in neighbouring Sudan continues to drive civilians across the frontier. 'UNHCR is working to move these refugees away from the border and to safer areas of South Sudan because of concerns about security,' the agency's chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, told journalists in Geneva.

A group of African farmers, pastoralists and campaigners just left on a road trip to South Africa for the 17th Conference of Parties discussions in Durban. Organised by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, this group will pass through 10 African countries creating awareness on climate change. This will culminate in a petition being presented to President Jacob Zuma expressing Africa’s concerns about climate change. Kenya’s position in the talks is not clearly defined. In fact, Kenya is not known to have a position of its own as far as climate change discussions go.

CDM Watch was re-established in April 2009 to provide an independent perspective on CDM projects, methodologies and the work of the CDM Executive Board, which is supervising the CDM. The ultimate goal is to help assure that the current CDM, as well as a reformed mechanism post-2012, effectively results in emission reductions that are real, measurable, permanent, independently verified, and that contribute to sustainable development in CDM host countries.

The President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, intends to pull Ghana out of the International Monetary Fund in a final bid to end moves by the Christine Largarde-led funding agency to suffocate the US$3 billion loan the NDC government wants from the China Development Bank (CDB). With just a little over a year left of its four-year mandate, and following what appears to be deep-seated challenges that have crippled the roundly marketed STX housing project, analysts say the Mills government badly needs huge foreign capital injection if it is to honour a string of mouth-watering campaign promises on whose back it rode to political power in January 2009.

Eleven people were left dead in Egypt as protestors against continuing military rule clashed with police in and around Tahrir Square. This informal video captures some of the scenes from Tahrir Square.

The Obama administration is considering 'an urgent appeal' from Kenya for US intelligence and logistical support for its military operation in Somalia, the Los Angeles Times reported. The newspaper characterised Kenya’s Somalia operation as 'faltering' but cited no specific sources, even though Kenya UN ambassador Macharia Kamau did visit Washington to seek US backing for Operation Linda Nchi. Mr Kamau had earlier told nation.co.ke that Kenya would welcome an international blockade of Kismayu, the southern Somalia port through which the Al- Shabaab derives much of its revenue. The US has publicly expressed reluctance to undertake such a blockade.

Weapons of Mass Construction: MBBC E-Learning Platform Launches!

The Movement Building Boot Camp (MBBC) online platform is an e-learning space for African activists doing progressive work around sexuality, gender, justice and rights. It features training guides and knowledge resources to support creative thinking, strategising and discussions among activists working for social transformation inclusive of issues of sexuality and gender identity. The training resources are organised around three intersecting pillars: Concepts (theoretical frameworks for understanding our world), Practice (activist tools and methods) and Self (individual and collective well-being and security). The site is intended to support self-organised learning and training. The materials are designed to be directly downloaded and used by individuals and activist groups. It includes training modules to help facilitate your own training or learning. The library contains references and materials for further reading. Content created for this site is available for free under a Creative Commons license that allows it to be used for non-commercial purposes. In the spirit of movement building, please do let us know how you are using the materials, and if you would like to contribute information for the site.

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is offering fellowships for journalists to report on ongoing research in the geosciences. Successful applicants will receive up to €5k to cover expenses related to their projects, including following scientists on location.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study, the top 40 mining firms enjoyed a 1,900 per cent cumulative increase in net profits in the six years between 2002 and 2007, says Yao Graham, the co-ordinator of Third World Network-Africa. 'But very little of this additional income and profits went to the mineral exporting African countries, thanks both to the lopsided fiscal terms enjoyed by mining firms, and to their use of tax avoidance schemes such as doing business with shell companies in tax havens.'

The Global Fund has denied Uganda $270m (about Sh700b) needed to put over 100,000 more people on lifesaving ARVs because the country’s policies are deemed harsh on sexual minorities. The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created to dramatically increase resources to fight three of the world’s most devastating diseases, and to direct those resources to areas of greatest need. The Uganda government’s New Vision newspaper reported today that the Aids control manager in the Ministry of Health, Dr Zainab Akol, had said the rights of minorities were derailing the fight against HIV/Aids.

This UN Report on the World Social Situation explores the ongoing adverse social consequences of the ongoing financial crisis. The global economic downturn has had wide-ranging negative social outcomes for individuals, families, communities and societies, and its impact on social progress in areas such as education and health will only become fully evident over time. During times of financial and economic crisis, households often adopt coping strategies, such as making changes in household expenditure patterns; however, these can negatively influence education, health and nutrition outcomes, which may lead to lifelong deficits for the children affected and thus perpetuate the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Life in Bwaise – a slum on the outskirts of the capital of Uganda – has never been easy. But increasingly erratic rains over the last three years have brought constant floods to the former swampland. Residents who can afford to are moving out, leaving the poorest – often single mothers and grandmothers – behind.